A tanning salon has told a woman in this Akron suburb that she is too fat to tan.

Kelly McGrevey purchased a tanning package at Aloha Tanning last week after one session and a quick tour of the salon. But when she returned the next day to make use of her purchase, she said the man working at the time turned her away.

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"He said, 'Sorry, but I'm not going to let you tan today because we've just implemented a new policy where anyone over 230 pounds can't go in one of our beds,' " McGrevey said. "I was just so shocked and embarrassed and humiliated."

The first day, McGrevey had tanned in a standup booth. When she returned the next day, that booth was broken and she was told traditional beds are off limits to heavy customers.

"It really upset me. It's discrimination," she said. She asked for a refund; she had paid nearly $70 for a month's worth of tanning.

"He said, 'No, we don't give refunds," McGrevey said. She then called police, filing a report against owner Justin Hileman.

The Akron Better Business Bureau gave Aloha an F rating after the business failed to respond to one complaint filed in the past 12 months.

McGrevey did not obtain the name of the employee who refused her service.

"He asked if I was aware of how many times he had to replace the acrylic on those beds because of heavy people?" she said.

Tanning beds, which have fluorescent bulbs both above and below that emit ultraviolet radiation, top the bulbs with a sheet of clear acrylic that can crack under pressure. Manufacturers use varying thicknesses of acrylic, so weight-limit recommendations vary.

Late last year a British medical journal attributed almost 200,000 cases of skin cancer each year to the use of indoor tanning. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, has classified ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds as a Class 1 carcinogen, the same category as tobacco smoke and asbestos.

An employee who identified herself only as Nicole said Aloha's beds have a 230-pound weight limit, which is discussed with potential customers but not conveyed in writing.

"We do have a lot of bigger people that came in here, and they know that they can't go into the laydown beds because they are so, you know, they are bigger," Nicole said.

About two-thirds of adults in Ohio were considered overweight or obese in 2011, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. That compares with about 63% nationwide. Ohio women were less likely than men to have the excess weight, 57.5% of females vs. 74.1% of males.

Another man at the salon, who refused to state his name, told us that Aloha won't refund McGrevey's package. He suggested she cancel her credit-card purchase instead.

A salon representative said Monday that the charges to her credit card had been refunded Sunday, but McGrevey said the amount has not yet shown up on her account.

Employees at several other Northeast Ohio salons said they don't have weight limits or restrict heavier patrons to certain beds. One mentioned a weight limit of 300 pounds, made clear before a sale becomes final.

Police have not been further involved in the matter. Officers told her to contact them again if she returned to tan and was refused service.